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Despite condemning the Paris terror attacks Iran has responded to Charlie Hebdo's recent Muhammad depiction on its front page by reportedly launching a cartoon competition on the subject of Holocaust denial.

The country’s House of Cartoon and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex organised the competition and are offering $12,000 to the winner, according to the Tehran Times.

The work will go on display at the Palestine Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran as well as other venues across the capital city.

While Holocaust denial is not uncommon in the Islamic Republic, it is believed this latest competition, has been organised as a response to Charlie Hebdo’s front cover in the edition after the attacks which featured a portrayal of Muhammad.

The edition, whose cover had a drawing of the prophet holding a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” below the words “All is forgiven”, sold over seven million copies.

While Iran officially condemned the attacks in France, several hundred hard-line Iranians held protests against Charlie Hebdo’s decision to publish the cartoon.

It’s not the first time a cartoon competition has been held in Iran around the theme of Holocaust denial.

In 2006 the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri held a similar competition in response to the publication of Muhammad cartoons by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

The motivation was to denounce the apparent hypocrisy of the west around freedom of expression “which forbids any debate about the legitimacy of the Holocaust”.